The Bakery at Fat Rice - Brunch

I like Fat Rice.  I have been several times, though I haven't been in a while and I have never been to brunch, so I decided to schedule a brunch there.  The party that I had was pretty large and Fat Rice is small, so we were seated in The Bakery at Fat Rice which is an actual bakery, which is attached to Fat Rice and is used as overflow seating.  While we were seated in The Bakery, the entire brunch menu was available to us, it was just that the aesthetic was different.  The back wall of The Bakery is occupied by the display case and bakery.  The front wall was occupied by a large window, which provided a lot of the light.  The tables were arranged in two rows, cafeteria-style and can probably seat about 30 people.  The menu has a lot of very different and interesting things on it, so it was a good thing that we were a large party, so we could try many things.  Because there were a lot of different and interesting things, though, we did need some time to plan our attack, so we ordered our drinks and then first started with the bakery menu.  My drink was very different and very different from something I might normally order.  Called a Kalimotxo, it started with Red Wine, and had Coke, Balsam Amaro, and Lemon.  As might be expected it tasted of red wine and coke, the balsam amaro added a bitterness, which made the combination similar to bitter vermouth.  The lemon was more garnish than anything.  While the drink was interesting and I did finish it, it was a little more bitter and a little less tart than I normally go for.

There were a lot of interesting things on The Bakery menu, so we decided to order several things and share.  We started with a Bolo de Arroz, similar to a muffin, it was made with Rice Flour, Lemon, Coconut, and Rosemary.  It was sweet, a little tart, slightly bitter from the rice flour, and had a nice herbaceousness from the rosemary.  We then had a Ceylon Snickerdoodle, which was similar to a regular snickerdoodle with a crispy crust and a chewy texture, but also had a Gooey Salted Egg Custard filling.  This was really good and may have been one of my favorites.  We then went to a Char Siu "Pineapple" Bun, which had a cross hatched crust that looked similar to a pineapple.  It was filled with Barbecue Pork and Scallion.  It was really good and reminded me of a barbecue pork bao, though the bun was a little more firm.  W finished things off on the bakery side with an Ube Milk Bar, which was actually packaged.  It consisted of Ube, a purple yam, a Shortbread Crust, Condensed Milk Jam, and Coconut Streusel.  It was sweet, very good, and I was happy someone ordered it, because it was one of the things that came home with me.  Also ordered before our main courses was the Linguica Sausage, a Portuguese Pork and Garlic Sausage similar to Spanish Chorizo.  It was served with Almonds, Cilantro, and Fresno Chilies.  The peppers were pretty spicy and helped cut through the fatty flavor.  The almonds were flavorful and added some texture.

After our snacks, we started receiving our appetizers.  While it was my intention to let everyone contribute to the whole order, it seems that I ordered a lot of the food.  I ordered both appetizers, Curry Vegetable Samosas with Tamarind Mustard Seed Chutney, and Bacalhau de Vovo Home Made Salt Cod Spread with Olives and Papo Seco Bread.  I like Samosas and while there shape was a little unusual, it wasn't important, because they tasted really good.  The crust was nice and crunchy and held a very nice and flavorful vegetable curry.  The dipping sauce was both tart and spicy sour and it went well with the curry.  Papa Seco Bread (literally "Dry Throat") are very popular Portuguese Rolls that are similar in similar in texture and flavor to Baguettes.  Bacalhau is also a very popular Portuguese dish and spread on the bread, it was a great match.  The olives were pitted and had a good flavor, and the chilies were pretty hot, and seemed to amp up the flavor of the fish.  It was all very good.

We ended up with three entrees, one of which I have wanted to try since the first time I came here.  We had Piri Piri Chicken, Wood Fired Thighs with Garlicky Greens, Cornichons, Potatoes, and Fresno Chilies, Yellow Vegetable Curry with Coconut Rice for our vegetarian cohort, and the dish for which the restaurant was named and the dish that I have wanted to try since I first came here, Arroz Gordo (Fat Rice).  Piri Piri Chicken is usually pretty spicy and this lived up to its reputation.  It was also very moist and flavorful on it's own without the Cornichons, or the Fresno Chilies, though they each did add something.  The chicken was spicy enough that the Fresno chilies didn't really add to the general heat of the chicken, but they did contribute a pretty good and fresh pepper flavor.  The Vegetable Curry was very similar to that that was in the Samosas, but it was very good and also went well with the Coconut Rice.  The Arroz Gordo they recommend for two or more people and there is a very good reason for that, because it's enormous.  It is similar to a paella, in that it's kind of a catch all dish and it had many of the things that we ordered on their own, Curried Chicken Thighs, Char Siu Pork, Linguica Sausage and Potatoes, plus Chili Prawns, Clams, Olives, Wood Roasted Beef, Hard Boiled Eggs, Golden Raisins, and Yellow Rice.  It was pretty amazing and with the other stuff we ordered even with 5 guys eating it, I ended up taking about half of it home.

I love Fat Rice. It is one of my favorites and it does a lot of really good stuff.  I really enjoyed brunch, dining in the bakery, and getting to try many of their baked goods that while familiar, also have a very individual spin.  I will definitely return for dinner and for brunch.